The Negative Image
by Joshua Falken
Summary: When a mysterious woman began to attack her friends, Sakura will need to face her biggest enemy...
1. Chapter 1 From the Mirror

The Negative Image   
by Joshua Falken

Thanks to BenRG for the beta-reading!

Author's note: This is based solely on the Brazilian translation of the manga by CLAMP (and not on the anime)

* * *

Chapter 1 - From the Mirror

Reporters of all the world were in an auditorium at the Daidouji Corporation's head office, expecting a presentation regarding the final result of the Positron Consortium, that included several of Japan's top robotics companies. What surprised the gathered members of the Fourth Estate was not the presence of eminent scientists and engineers or of famous celebrities and government members. What surprised them was the presence in the first line of two 14 year-old girls, one with short clear brown-haired and brilliant green eyes and the other with long black haired and kind, violet eyes. Their names were Sakura Kinomoto and Tomoyo Daidouji.

"I'm happy that your mother invited me, Tomoyo."

"I'm also happy for that."

On that moment, a woman with short brown hair dressed in a white business suit stepped out onto the stage. "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Daidouji Corporation. We, of the Positron Consortium, want to show the result of more than five years of researches in the field of the cybernetics. And now..." Sonomi Daidouji turned to one of the corners of the stage and she waved. "Come here!"

A white robot, the height of 16 year-old youth, walked onto the stage. Everybody was impressed with the naturalness with which it walked. But the surprises had not ended. As it approached the center of the stage, the robot suddenly broke into a run and executed a somersault that would have impressed any gymnast. The robot halted and offered the audience a bow. "Greetings, the robot said. "Welcome to the Daidouji Corporation. My name is Megumi." Flashbulbs burst all around and the reporters yelled questions.

Sakura recognised the voice immediately. "Tomoyo, that is my voice!" she said to her friend in an embarrassed tone.

Tomoyo smiled at her best friend. "I suggested it, Sakura. I let my mother's scientists copy all the audio tracks from my videos of you. I hope that you don't mind."

"No. Of course not." Sakura blushed shyly.

At that moment, Sonomi lifted her hand to silence the shouting reporters. "Megumi is the first robot in the world to make use of the quantum brain, a computer based on the principles of Quantum Mechanics," she announced. "Beside that, she is an Artificial Intelligence, guided by the Three Laws of the Robotics, as created by the science fiction writer Isaac Asimov. Could you tell us which they are, Megumi?"

"With pleasure, Mrs. Daidouji," the android answered, crossing her arms behind it's back, and reciting something that was fundamental to its own existence: "First Law: A robot cannot harm a human, or by inaction allow a human to come to harm. Second Law: A robot must obey any order given to it by a human except where such orders violate the First Law. Third Law: A robot must not harm itself, or by inaction allow itself to come to harm except where doing so would violate one or both of the first two laws."

The presentation continued until the end, when Megumi gave a basket of flowers to Sakura and Tomoyo. The photos of Sakura blushing at the robot's gesture would be printed in the pages of the newspapers for all the world the next day.

Later, at a party held in the Daidouji Corporation's offices to celebrate the unveiling of this new wonder of science, the two friends talked about the night. "It seems that she came from a movie!" Sakura could not stop being surprised.

"Yeah, I agree." Tomoyo turn back to her friend with a curious expression. "And how are you going with your dating with Shoran? Wasn't he able to come too?"

"Shoran had to return to Hong Kong suddenly. Something to do with one of his sisters." Tomoyo and Sakura started giggling. The daughters of the Li Clan of Hong Kong were their willing allies in setting Sakura up with the often cold-tempered Shoran Li (Sometimes, Tomoyo wondered if Shoran's mother, Yelen, was in on it too).

"I see... I will get a glass of soda. Would you like one as well?" Tomoyo asked.

"Yes, thank you very much."

Thus, Sakura Kinomoto was alone, looking at the bustle in the party room. Immediately her attention was attracted to a big mirror, on the wall behind her. It was an oval mirror, of whole body, with a simple gold frame. For some reason that she could not explain, Sakura began to pull faces to the girl in the mirror (after making sure that nobody was looking at her).

She was about to turn back... when it happened. The Sakura in the Mirror blinked her eyes three times in a row. This was most unusual as the real Sakura had not blinked her eyes.

Before she could understand that, she felt weak and everything went dark...

======

On that same moment, two beings created by one of the most powerful magicians that the world ever seen, Lead Clow, felt that their new master, Sakura Kinomoto, was in danger.

In his apartment close to University of Tokyo, Touya Kinomoto saw the window open and some white feathers dropping to the floor.

"Yuki... Yue." He murmured.

In his house, Fujitaka Kinomoto, Archaeology teacher and the new Director of the University of Tokyo, woke up in his work table, from a nightmare, at the same time that in his daughter's room, a form similar to a winged puma leapt from the window. 

======

Later, Sakura was at a hospital room. Tomoyo was at her side. Suddenly, the brown haired girl just opened her eyes just a little. "Tomoyo...?" Her voice was just a murmur.

"Sakura!" Her friend exclaimed, radiant at seeing her awake. "Don't worry, it wasn't anything serious!"

"What happened!?"

"You fainted in the middle of the party and my mother brought you here personally," Tomoyo said proudly.

In that every moment, Fujitaka talked with Sonomi regarding what had happened. "Kero and Yue are here." Tomoyo explained, indicating the Guardian of the Sun and of the Moon behind her.

Sakura didn't hear her friend. She murmured for herself. "Something... Somebody.. is outside..."

In alert, Yue looked at for the window of the hospital room. Kero watched the door. "Sakura.. there is not anybody outside," Tomoyo said in a concerned tone of voice.

Sakura murmured before fainting again: " Somebody... Something... bad..."

======

In the party room of the Daidouji Corporation building, a light began to emanate from the mirror. A black light that seemed to swallow the bright artificial light in the room with the darkness. A purple lightning flashed out of the vortex of black light into the center of the room. There was an explosion of blood-red light and a woman appeared, kneeling in the middle of the living room. She was tall and anorexically thin. She was dressed completely in black: long-knee boots, pants, a top, and a cape with a hood that hid her face.

"Finally... Existence!" Her voice was seductive, dangerous and cold.

The woman stood up and she caught the black object hanging around her long neck with her black-gloved hands. "Key that controls the powers of the Darkness, obey the Master that enslaved you. Obey my Dark Star!" At the same time that she said those words, the object in her hands grew into a metallic staff with a head shaped like a metallic star held in a bear's paws. The edges of the star were razor-edged.

From the mirror, two spheres of black light appeared and they swept out to hover in front of the woman in black. One changed into a strong woman with cold blue eyes, long black hair and great bat wings. The other resembled a tiger with orange skin with black stripes. She also had great bat wings. Both war a black metallic armour that seemed to flow around them like liquid night.

"Sandra, Master of the Darkness!" they exclaimed, knelt down before their mistress. The black-haired woman gave her mistress a white mask that covered all but the user's eyes.

Sandra smiled coldly before placing the mask on her face. Her cold green eyes shone out dangerously.

"Go, Morgana. Go, Nemesis." The two Guardian stood. "First we have to find a place to be, and then... we will attack."

"Yes, mistress!" Nemesis and Morgana disappeared.

Before disappearing in the darkness like a shadow given form, Sandra pulled a photo from within her cape. An old photo of a brown haired girl with green eyes.

"Dear Sakura... Soon we will meet." The woman said, before the photo caught alight and was consumed by the flames.

* * *

So? What did you think?

Next chapter coming soon!


	2. Chapter 2 Penetrating Eyes

The Negative Image   
by Joshua Falken

Thanks to BenRG for the beta-reading!

Author's note: This is based solely on the Brazilian translation of the manga by CLAMP (and not on the anime)

* * *

Chapter 2 - Penetrating Eyes 

The next day, Sakura was discharged from the hospital. According to the doctors, she had simply fainted due to fatigue - although their only reason for saying so was because they couldn't find anything wrong with her. Of course that pretext was enough for Sonomi to have a discussion with Sakura's father (not that she needed one...).

"Are you seeing this, Fujitaka-san! This is what happens when you press her too much! She is not one of your masters degree students that..." Fukitaka Kinomoto just listened and smiled in silence. He could see that Nadeshiko was smiling at Sonomi's antics...

Sakura was sitting between them in a wheelchair, due the hospital rules. Tomoyo pushed her friend's chair and commented: "I think don't think that they will ever change."

Sakura agreed, with a great sweat drop on the back of the head.

"But it is good that you can leave the hospital." Tomoyo said, smiling. And before her friend could answer, she amended: "This way, you won't miss the mathematics test tomorrow."

"Mathematics test?? Tomorrow?!? Hoo-ee!!!"

Kero was in his master's lap, pretending to be a doll. Because of Sonomi and Fujitaka, he could not move and find out why he felt as if they were being watched. He was sure that someone was watching them - he could feel the penetrating eyes of whoever it was boring into the back of his neck!

When the two adults finally went away to take care for Sakura's discharge, a worried Kero looked around, trying to discover who was watching them.

"What's up, Kero?" Sakura asked, surprised the reaction of her Guardian.

Kero decided to stay in silence. He needed to discuss this with Yue first...

======

A pair of eyes watched as two adults and two children boarded a cab. The pair of eyes belonged to orange cat with black stripes. What distinguished that cat from the others was the interest with which it watched the departure of Sakura from the hospital... and also the fact that it had a pair of wings that resembled those of a bat.

The cat flew through Tomoeda until it arrived at a mansion in the outskirts of the city. The darkness and the isolation from people fostered a feeling of importance and oppression. The cat travelled through the empty rooms until arriving in a room illuminated only by the light streaming through a broken window, containing only an armchair (its' back turned to whoever might enter the room) and a small table at its side. The mysterious cat saw when a black-gloved hand elegantly place a cup of red wine on the small table.

"Nemesis?" The occupant of the room asked.

"Yes, Master!" The cat answered, returning to its original form, of a winged tiger.

"Is our... friend going back home?"

"Yes, as you foresaw, Master!"

The gloved hand picked up the cup and it raised it to blood-red lips. "Excellent. You may leave."

Nemesis left the room. Sandra placed the cup on the table again and she looked at her own hand. She seemed to be translucent for one moment. She didn't worry about that. Soon that would change... as she had always planned.

======

Mathematics teacher Nyamo Matsudaira was walking towards the school when she noticed that a black sport car parked in the street outside the school. Through the tinted windows, she could not tell if someone was inside the vehicle. She wondered if she should tell the school's headmaster, since she knew that that car did not belong to any of the students or their families... but, and if she was wrong in her suspicions? That is... that nobody would use such a flashy car. What if the person had changed their minds about their car?

The woman shook the head, starting to think she was getting paranoid...

When, some time later, she was giving her lessons, she looked through the window and saw that the black car was still there. In the same instant in that she bit her lower lip, she saw a strong woman wearing the grey uniform of a chauffeur walking out to the car. The driver got into the car and drove off. Without that she could say the reason, Nyamo felt relieved.

The teacher turned her attention back to her class and she noticed that Sakura Kinomoto seemed distracted. "Sakura?"

"Huh? Oh! Yes, Matsudaira-sensei?"

"Is there anything wrong, Sakura?"

"No."

Nyamo shrugged and dismissed the problem from her mind. After all, Sakura Kinomoto was one of those dreamy girls whose attention was, unfortunately, frequently elsewhere when she should be paying attention to her classes. After the teacher returned her attention to the blackboard, Tomoyo whispered her friend's ear. "Something wrong, Sakura?"

"It is nothing, Tomoyo." Sakura smiled nervously. "Only a weird feeling... but it already is gone."

Tomoyo stayed in silence, but for the rest of the class she kept an eye on Sakura.

======

Later, the driver entered in her Master's private room, and she knelt down in front of the white-masked woman.

"Sandra, Master of the Darkness!"

"Get up, Morgana. And no matter how much I appreciate your uniform, you can assume your true form." After her creation to dispelled its' disguise, Sandra continued. "Did you confirm the identities of our friend's teachers?" She asked from the shadows, while her hand caressed Nemesis's head.

"Yes, Master. Here there is the list of her teachers and their schedules."

A paper leaf flew from Morgana to Sandra's elegant hand. "It's good that you have recorded it... no one should ever trust in memory alone..." she said almost as if thinking out loud. "Then, the subject with more classes is mathematics..." The Master of the Darkness had a sip of a cup of wine, and stayed in silence for some minutes.

"Then I believe that you should teach Mathematics, Morgana."

"And the current teacher?"

Sandra made a dismissive gesture with her gloved hand. "I leave that to you and Nemesis' discretion, Morgana."

A cold smile appeared on the winged woman's lips, at the same time that a frightening shine glowed in the eyes of the winged tiger. "As you wish, Master!" The two magic beings disappeared.

Sandra's cold green eyes shone with satisfaction.

======

Late that, Nyamo Matsudaira went back to her house, in the other side of the town. After the classes, she had to do some grocery shopping, being late her day. Suddenly, in a dark street, her car stalled.

"But... what? Damn! Now what?!" Nyamo left the car and when she badly had opened the hood, she realised that she was being watched. Swallowing dryly, she looked around. In the darkness, she couldn't see anything!

She turned back in direction of her car before a shadowy being attacked her with a sudden and unstoppable ferociously. In the shadows, a winged woman smiled in approval...

======

"I'm sorry for inform the class that Matsudaira-san suffered an accident and will not teach classes for the rest of the year." The school's headmaster informed Sakura's class. The youngsters immediately began to whisper between themselves in surprise and concern. Sakura felt a strange chill.

"My God, was it serious?"

"Was she hurt badly?"

"I hope she recovers soon!"

The headmaster shared the shock of his students. He didn't still couldn't believe what the police had told him: that Nyamo had been found in coma in the street... after having been apparently attacked by a large cat, like a puma or a tiger! In Downtown Tokyo!

"Silence!" he said aloud, to silence the class. "The Secretary of Education sent us a teacher to substitute Miss Matsudaira until she recovers." He gestured for someone that was outside the room. "Please, come in."

The door opened and a woman entered and she looked at the class. The students fell silent immediately. She had long black hair and seemed very strong. The beautiful face radiated authority. Her posture seemed to communicate that was a person that liked to be obeyed. She dressed a leather suit, long skirt, high-heeled shoes and gloves, all black. Overall, a very imposing look. But what silenced the students were her eyes: a deep blue colour behind her austere glasses, they were fixed, penetrating - it was as if she was reading their thoughts...

"It is a pleasure to meet you." She said with a smile that made Sakura suddenly feel worried for no reason that she could name. "My name is Miss Mona Shinohara." She wrote the name in the blackboard and the class began. While her back was turned to the class, nobody could see the malign smile in her lips.

Later, during the recess, Sakura and her friends talked about the new teacher.

"What did you think of her?" Chiraru asked.

"I don't know... she seems very serious..." Tomoyo commented.

"Yeah... Maybe she had military training once? She seems very strong." another added.

Sakura was amused for one moment and turned her eyes to school building. The new teacher was standing in the window of a classroom, staring directly at her with a cold, predatory smile. The new Master of the Clow Cards immediately knew that this was a being for her to fear.

"Tomoyo..." she murmured.

"What's wrong, Sakura?"

"Look at..." Sakrua began, pointing at the classroom window.

"Look at what?" The violet-eyed girl asked in confusion.

Sakura turned and saw that there was no one at the window. "Nothing..."

======

"Sakura, are you home yet?" Her father asked.

"Yes, Papa!" she answered, removing her skates. She had come directly to her house after the end of her school day.

"Ah, Sakura! Before I forget, a telegram arrived for you from England!"

"Cool! Where is it?" Is it from Eriol and Kaho?, she wondered happily.

"On top of the table."

The young sorceress caught the envelope marked in red letters: 'Urgent telegram!' Feeling a weird sensation, she walked slowly to her bedroom.

"Sakura, are you ok?" Kero asked concerned.

She didn't answer, opening the telegram. The message was short, just a line.

Sakura *STOP* Beware with the penetrating eyes *STOP* Eriol *STOP*

"Beware with the penetrating eyes..." she murmured, and immediately remembered the new teacher's eyes...

* * *

So? What did you think?

Next chapter coming soon!


End file.
